| Mentha aquatica | |
|---|---|
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| Plant in flower | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Lamiales |
| Family: | Lamiaceae |
| Genus: | Mentha |
| Species: | M. aquatica |
| Binomial name | |
| Mentha aquatica | |
| Synonyms [2] | |
List
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Mentha aquatica (water mint; syn. Mentha hirsuta Huds. [3] ) is a perennial flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae. It grows in moist places and is native to much of Europe, northwest Africa and southwest Asia. [3] [4]
Water mint is a herbaceous rhizomatous perennial plant growing to 90 centimetres (35 in) tall. The stems are square in cross section, green or purple, and variably hairy to almost hairless. The rhizomes are wide-spreading, fleshy, and bear fibrous roots. The leaves are ovate to ovate-lanceolate, 2 to 6 centimetres (0.79 to 2.36 in) long and 1 to 4 centimetres (0.39 to 1.57 in) broad, green (sometimes purplish), opposite, toothed, and vary from hairy to nearly hairless. The flowers of the watermint are tiny, densely crowded, purple, tubular, pinkish to lilac in colour and form a terminal hemispherical inflorescence; flowering is from mid to late summer. Water mint is visited by many types of insects, and can be characterized by a generalized pollination syndrome, [5] but can also spread by underground rhizomes. All parts of the plant have a distinctly minty smell. [4] [6] [7] Unbranched, hairless plants, with narrower leaves and paler flowers, native to areas of Sweden and Finland near the Baltic Sea, have been called Mentha aquatica var. litoralis. [8]
Mentha aquatica is a polyploid, with 2n = 8x = 96 chromosomes. [9]
Mentha aquatica was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753. [10] As with other Mentha species, it was subsequently re-described under a variety of different names; as of July 2019 [update] , Plants of the World Online listed 87 synonyms, including four forms or varieties that it does not recognize. [11] The cultivated eau de Cologne mint (also known as bergamot mint) is considered to be a variety of this species. [9]
It hybridises with Mentha spicata (spearmint) to produce Mentha × piperita (peppermint), a sterile hybrid; with Mentha suaveolens (apple mint) to produce Mentha × suavis; with Mentha arvensis (corn mint) to produce Mentha × verticillata; and with both M. arvensis and M. spicata to give the tri-species hybrid Mentha × smithiana. [4]
Water mint is native to much of Europe, northern Africa and western Asia. It has been introduced to North and South America, Australia and some Atlantic islands. [8]
As the name suggests, water mint occurs in the shallow margins and channels of streams, rivers, pools, dikes, ditches, canals, wet meadows, marshes and fens. If the plant grows in the water itself, it rises above the surface of the water. It generally occurs on mildly acidic to calcareous (it is common on soft limestone) mineral or peaty soils. [4] [6] M. aquatica can occur in certain fen-meadow habitats such as the Juncus subnodulosus–Cirsium palustre plant association. [12] It is a component of purple moor grass and rush pastures – a type of Biodiversity ActPlan habitat in the UK.[ citation needed ]
It can be used as an edible herb (like spearmint or peppermint) [13] and to make a herbal tea. [8] The cultivated variety known as eau de Cologne mint or bergamot mint is used to produce mentha citrata oil, also known as bergamot mint oil, an ingredient used in perfumery [9] [14] (not to be confused with bergamot essential oil).[ citation needed ]
Mentha is a genus of plants in the family Lamiaceae. The exact distinction between species is unclear; it is estimated that 13 to 24 species exist. Hybridization occurs naturally where some species' ranges overlap. Many hybrids and cultivars are known.
Peppermint is a hybrid species of mint, a cross between watermint and spearmint. Indigenous to Europe and the Middle East, the plant is now widely spread and cultivated in many regions of the world. It is occasionally found in the wild with its parent species.
Spearmint, a species of mint (mentha) scientifically classified as Mentha spicata (,) also known as garden mint, common mint, lamb mint and mackerel mint, is native to Europe and southern temperate Asia, extending from Ireland in the west to southern China in the east. It is naturalized in many other temperate parts of the world, including northern and southern Africa, North America, and South America. It is used as a flavouring in food and herbal teas. The aromatic oil, called oil of spearmint, is also used as a flavoring and sometimes as a scent.
Cirsium palustre, the marsh thistle or European swamp thistle, is a herbaceous biennial flowering plant in the family Asteraceae.
Mentha suaveolens, the apple mint, pineapple mint, woolly mint or round-leafed mint, is a member of the mint family Lamiaceae. It is native to southern and western Europe including the Mediterranean region. It is a herbaceous, upright perennial plant that is most commonly grown as a culinary herb or for ground cover.
Gaultheria procumbens, also called the eastern teaberry, the checkerberry, the boxberry, or the American wintergreen, is a species of Gaultheria native to northeastern North America from Newfoundland west to southeastern Manitoba, and south to Alabama. It is a member of the Ericaceae.
Monarda is a genus of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae. The genus is endemic to North America. Common names include bergamot, bee balm, horsemint, and oswego tea, the first being inspired by the fragrance of the leaves, which is reminiscent of bergamot orange. The genus was named for the Spanish botanist Nicolás Monardes, who wrote a book in 1574 describing plants of the New World.
Carvone is a member of a family of chemicals called terpenoids. Carvone is found naturally in many essential oils, but is most abundant in the oils from seeds of caraway, spearmint, and dill.
Mentha longifolia, also known as horse mint, brookmint, fillymint or St. John's horsemint, is a species of plant in the family Lamiaceae. It is native to Europe excluding Britain and Ireland, western and central Asia, and northern and southern Africa.
Mint sauce is a green sauce popular in the United Kingdom, made from finely chopped spearmint leaves soaked in vinegar, and a small amount of sugar. It is a traditional accompaniment to roast lamb.
Mentha arvensis, the corn mint, field mint, or wild mint, is a species of flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae. It has a circumboreal distribution, being native to the temperate regions of Europe and western and central Asia, east to the Himalaya and eastern Siberia, and North America. Mentha canadensis, the related species, is also included in Mentha arvensis by some authors as two varieties, M. arvensis var. glabrata Fernald and M. arvensis var. piperascens Malinv. ex L. H. Bailey.
Eau de Cologne mint, also known as orange mint and bergamot mint, is a cultivated mint. In a 1970 study, most plants were found to be male sterile forms of Mentha aquatica, so were regarded as Mentha aquatica var. citrata, although in England the hybrid Mentha × piperita was found. The Royal Horticultural Society treats eau de Cologne mint as Mentha × piperita f. citrata. The World Checklist of Selected Plant Families sinks both scientific names into Mentha aquatica.
Puccinia menthae is a fungal plant pathogen that causes rust on mint plants. It was originally found on the leaves of Mentha aquatica.
Mentha canadensis is a species of mint native to North America and the eastern part of Asia. In North America, it is commonly known as Canada mint, American wild mint, and in Asia as Chinese mint, Sakhalin mint, Japanese mint, and East Asian wild mint. The flowers are bluish or have a slight violet tint. The plant is upright, growing to about 4–18 in (10–46 cm) tall. Leaves grow opposite from each other, and flower bunches appear in the upper leaf axils. The mint grows in wet areas but not directly in water, so it will be found near sloughs, and lake and river edges. Plants bloom from July to August in their native habitats.
Mentha × gracilis is a hybrid mint species within the genus Mentha, a sterile hybrid between Mentha arvensis (cornmint) and Mentha spicata. It is cultivated for its essential oil, used to flavour spearmint chewing gum. It is known by the common names of gingermint, redmint and Scotchmint in Europe, and as Scotch spearmint in North America.
Jockey fields is an 18.05 hectares biological site of Special Scientific Interest at Walsall Wood, in the West Midlands. The site was notified in 1994 under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and is currently managed by the Country Trust.
Yerba buena or hierba buena is the Spanish name for a number of aromatic plants, most of which belong to the mint family. Yerba buena translates as "good herb". The specific plant species regarded as yerba buena varies from region to region, depending on what grows wild in the surrounding landscape, or which species is customarily grown in local gardens. Perhaps the most common variation of this plant is spearmint. The term has been used to cover a number of aromatic true mints and mint relatives of the genera Clinopodium, Satureja or Micromeria. All plants so named are associated with medicinal properties, and some have culinary value as herbal teas or seasonings as well.
Mentha japonica is a plant species in the genus Mentha, endemic to the islands of Hokkaido and Honshu, Japan. Initially described as Micromeria japonica by Friedrich Anton Wilhelm Miquel, it was first identified under its present name by Japanese botanist Tomitaro Makino in 1906. A relatively rare plant, it is classified by the Japanese Ministry of Environment as a Near Threatened species.
Mentha grandiflora is a plant species in the genus Mentha, endemic to eastern Australia. The species was described in 1848 by botanist George Bentham. Its epithet, grandiflora, means "with large flowers".
Mentha x villosa is a hybrid species of mint, a cross between Mentha spicata and Mentha suaveolens.
